Responsive to an incoming telephone call, many mobile telephones can play ringtone content, such as a clip of a popular song, rather than traditional ringing sounds. Some mobile telephones also allow users to associate ringtone content with specific incoming telephone numbers. This allows users to identify incoming callers from the sound of the ringtone content.
One way for users to implement ringtone content is to download turnkey files from third-party providers that license audio content used to generate the ringtone content. The license typically allows the third-party to resell, distribute, and/or make derivative works. The downloads can be sent through a network using, for example, SMS (Short Message Server), WAP (Wireless Access Protocol) push, MMS (Multimedia Message Server), a telephone network, and the like. Another way for users to implement ringtone content is to create their own. Sound editing software on a personal computer can be used to splice, blend, and apply other edits to audio content. The resulting ringtone content is then transferred to the mobile telephone for playback during incoming calls.
However, users that desire a variety of ringtone content can incur significant expenses by relying on the third-party which in turn needs to recoup licensing fees. A user that has already licensed the audio source through, for example, a CD purchase, effectively pays an additional licensing fee for the same audio content. On the other hand, users risk running afoul of copyright laws by sharing ringtone content without a license. Moreover, manual generation of ringtone content can be burdensome for some users and too complex for others.
Accordingly, a need exists for recreating ringtone content among devices (e.g., mobile phones) independently from audio content used to generate the ringtone content.